The Christian’s Armour

Extract

The Christian’s Armour
A. W. Pink

In the passage (Ephesians 6:10-18) which is to be before us the Apostle gathers up the whole previous subject of the Epistle into an urgent reminder of the solemn conditions under which the Christian’s life is lived. By a graphic figure he shows that the Christian’s life is lived on the battlefield, for we are not only pilgrims but soldiers; we are not only in a foreign country, but in the enemy’s land. Though the redemption which Christ has purchased for His people be free and full, yet, between the beginning of its application to us and the final consummation of it, there is a terrible and protracted conflict through which we have to pass. This is not merely a figure of speech, but a grim reality. Though salvation is free, yet it is not obtained without great effort. The fight to which God’s children are called in this life, is one in which Christians themselves receive many sore wounds, and thousands of professors are slain. Now, as we shall see in the verses which follow, the Apostle warns us that the conflict has to do with more than human foes: the enemies we have to meet are superhuman ones, and therefore in order to successfully fight against them we need supernatural strength.

We must remember that the Christian belongs to the spiritual realm as well as the natural, and so he has spiritual as well as natural foes; and hence he needs spiritual strength as well as physical. Therefore the Apostle begins here by saying, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might” (Eph. 6:10). The word “finally” denotes that the Apostle had reached his closing exhortation, and the words “be strong” link up with what immediately precedes as well as with what now follows. Some of you will remember that the whole of the fifth, and opening verses of the sixth chapters are filled with exhortations: exhortations that pertain to each aspect of the Christian life; exhortations to regulate him in the home, in business, in the world. Those exhortations are addressed to the husband, wife, child, master, servant, and in order for the Christian to obey them he needs to be “strong in the Lord and in the power …